North Manchester, Ind. – Kameron Bowling had a career afternoon in striking out 16 batters to spur the No. 13 Transylvania softball team to a doubleheader sweep of the Manchester University Spartans on Saturday afternoon at MU Softball Field.
Behind a career-high 16 strikeouts from Bowling, the Pioneers cruised to a 6-0 win over the Spartans in game one before finishing off the afternoon with a 4-2 win on the road.
The Pioneers improved to 12-6 on the season and 2-0 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play following Saturday's conference opener. Manchester fell to 2-12 overall and 0-2 in HCAC play.
Bowling authored her historic outing by striking out the first nine batters she faced on the afternoon as the Pioneers waited for their offense to click. Transylvania climbed ahead in the top of the fourth inning as Alyssa Nunn scored Courtney Gentry on an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans finally evaded a strikeout against Bowling in the bottom of the frame via a groundout, but Bowling continued her dominance by ringing up the final two hitters of the inning to retire the side and maintain a one-run lead for Transy.
Taylor Senter doubled the Transy lead in the fifth with a lead-off home run to left field and answered again in the next inning with an RBI single that followed an RBI double from Abby Frazier to grow the Pioneer stronghold to 4-0. The Spartans found their lone hit of the game versus Bowling in the bottom of the sixth but the Transy senior quickly retired any semblance of a Manchester rally.
Cece Wittry capped off game one with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to supplement the monumental outing from Bowling for the 6-0 final.
Senter led the Pioneers on offense with three hits, a home run, a double, and two RBI. Frazier, Nunn, and Wittry each tallied two hits apiece to boost the Pioneers to a 12-hit outing in the opener.
Bowling moved to 7-4 on the season as she added the first conference win of the year to the Pioneers' ledger.
Against game two Pioneer starter Carlee Jeter and reliever Cece Wittry, the Spartans collated a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings to furnish a 2-0 lead. Leaning upon steady pitching, Manchester maintained a 5-0 lead through the fifth.
The Pioneers initiated their rally in the top of the sixth inning as Wittry led off the effort with a one-out single and continued to second on a Manchester error. Senter kept up her ferocious afternoon with an RBI double to centerfield, slicing the Spartan lead to 2-1. Annie Schuck drew a walk to put two runners aboard, and Allyson O'Dell delivered a single to load the bases.
Nunn speared a shot to right field to tie up the game on a sacrifice fly RBI. With two down, Becca Messing reached first on an infielding error and the Pioneers brought two more across home plate for a quick 4-2 advantage.
Wittry continued her work from the circle, stranding one runner each in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to collect her third win of the season. Wittry blended her four quality innings in the circle with a 3 for 4 performance at the plate.
Transylvania continues its weekend road trip with a doubleheader at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana. The HCAC doubleheader is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start from Behrens Field.
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